Media Contacts:
Christine Cantrell, Elmore Public Relations
[email protected] / 713-524-0661
Catherine Butsch, Houston Parks Board
[email protected] / 713-942-8500 x18
Susan Cadrecha, Google
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Houston Parks Board’s Partnership with Google Maps Makes Houston’s Greenspaces
Accessible Online
Miles of trails and parkland now available on Street View for virtual tours
HOUSTON – May 3, 2016 – Beginning today, people around the world can tour Houston’s parks, trails and
greenspace network without leaving their homes, thanks to a partnership between Houston Parks Board (HPB)
and Google to make some of the most popular outdoor recreational areas in Houston accessible on Street View
in Google Maps.
The launch of the images occurred at today’s press conference in Austin, where Google and Texas tourism
leaders announced that more than 80 locations and tourist attractions captured through Street View imagery
across the state of Texas will be featured on Google Maps in partnership with Houston Parks Board, Austin
Convention and Visitors Bureau and Visit El Paso. This announcement coincides with National Travel and
Tourism Week, May 1 – 7, which celebrates the contributions made to the U.S. economy by the travel industry.
“The new Street View images make Houston’s green spaces accessible in a whole new way,” said Tom Bacon,
Houston Parks Board chairman. “Anyone with internet access can now virtually explore some of what our city
has to offer in terms of outdoor recreation and routes for off-street transportation. The Street View images of
the bayous also give a glimpse of what is in store when Bayou Greenways 2020 is complete: a continuous parks
system along Houston’s major waterways.”
From the Pyramids of Giza to the Amazon Rainforest, Street View features panoramic imagery of destinations
around the world. Many of these images are collected using the Google Trekker, a 40-pound backpack equipped
with GPS technology and cameras that record a 360-degree image. The goal of the Trekker is to access locations
only accessible by foot.
As participants in the Trekker Loan Program, Houston Parks Board personnel carried the Trekker approximately
150 miles to collect images of Houston parkland and the emerging Bayou Greenway network, including along
Brays Bayou Greenway, White Oak Bayou Greenway and Halls Bayou Greenway. With this imagery, people all
over the world can take self-guided tours of these locations, giving them a sense of what it would be like to visit
in person.
“As Texans, we love the outdoors, and thousands of residents and visitors take advantage of our parks and trails
on a daily basis,” said Gerardo Interiano, Google’s Head of External Affairs in Texas. “Today people can take
virtual tours of more than 80 locations across our beautiful state right from the Google Maps app on their
Android or iOS phones. Now the rest of the world can know, what Texans already know, and what Willie Nelson
taught us: there’s no place but Texas.”
Of the 31 sites mapped through the Trekker program, 25 are part of the Houston Parks and Recreation
Department park and greenspace system. This includes trails currently being developed as part of the Bayou
Greenways 2020 program.
“Google Trekker will allow people from all over the world to take a look at some of Houston’s most beautiful
parks and greenspaces,” said Joe Turner, Director of the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. “This will
give the world a different view of Houston.”
Additional mapped parks and greenspaces that can also be viewed on Street View in Google Maps include the
following parks within the Houston Parks and Recreation Department’s system:
● Sections of White Oak Bayou Greenway, Hunting Bayou Greenway and Sims Bayou Greenway
● MacGregor Park
● Hermann Park and the Bill Coats Bridge
● Memorial Park
● Buffalo Bayou Park
● Keith-Wiess Park
As well as several county parks, including:
● Arthur Storey Park
● Terry Hershey Park
Special thanks to the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Memorial Park
Conservancy, Hermann Park Conservancy, Harris County Precinct One, Harris County Precinct Three and others
that welcomed the Trekker to photograph their greenspaces.
To view a full list of trails, greenways and parkland in Houston now available on Google Maps, visit
www.houstonparksboard.org/google-trekker.
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The Houston Parks Board is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to create, improve, protect and advocate
for parkland in the Greater Houston region. Since its inception in 1976, the organization has raised and leveraged millions of
dollars and touched at least 75 percent of the City’s parkland either through acquisitions and/or capital improvements. For
more information, visit www.houstonparksboard.org.
Bayou Greenways 2020 will create a continuous park system along Houston’s major waterways. The project will establish
an interconnected system of parks and trails linking people, places and green space while enhancing air and water quality,
reducing flooding and stimulating economic development. Houston Parks Board is leading the fundraising of $120 million
and managing acquisition, design and construction of the Bayou Greenways 2020 Project over the next several years. Bayou
Greenways 2020 was made possible by Houston voters who supported the “Parks by You!” city bond referendum of 2012.
The Houston Parks and Recreation Department (H.P.A.R.D.) stewards and manages 370 parks totaling over 37,859 acres of
parkland and greenspace for the City of Houston and develops and implements recreational programming for citizens of all
abilities. For more information on the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, call (832) 395-7022 or visit
www.houstonparks.org.